The Girlfriend Game: 5 Questions with Nick Antosca

Nick Antosca is the author of four fiction books: Fires, Midnight Picnic, The Obese, and now the story collection The Girlfriend Game(Word Riot). His writing has appeared in Identity Theory several times, as well as lesser-known places like The Paris Review, n+1, and Nerve. He has written for the TV shows Teen Wolf and The Last Resort.

Writer Peter Straub said of The Girlfriend Game, “Nick Antosca has reached a level of blissful mastery.” Nick followed his bliss by fielding five questions about his newest collection of stories…

1. The Girlfriend Game–

The story is about jerking off while you watch your girlfriend cheat, or listen to it. I’m just riffing here. All the stories are very different. There are some with aliens, and some stories that are basically just extended sex scenes, and one story about To Catch a Predator, that TV show with Chris Hansen.

2. The Girlfriend Game.

Originally the collection was going to be titled “Mammals,” after one of the stories. But I asked Jackie Corley, who runs Word Riot, what would be a better title from the titles of the other stories, and she said, “The Girlfriend Game.” And then I realized that she was right, that was a better title. I was also considering the title “Amphibian,” after the story of the same title.

3. The Girlfriend Game…

is a collection of stories about sex, dogs, revenge, and how as long as you live, you can never really know another person! Sounds like fun, right? I love dogs.

4. The Girlfriend Game!

What the fuck, right? Sounds like a game show. Spin the wheel and get a girlfriend. Will she be Vera Nabokov, or will she be Zelda Fitzgerald? Just be nice to her.

5. The Girlfriend Game?

Yes, The Girlfriend Game. Do you like sex? Do you like aliens? Do you like dogs? Do you like violent swans and Boerboels? Do you know what a Boerboel is? Even if you don’t, you will probably like reading about them.